bibliothèque

Richard Freeman: Yoga ChantsRichard Freeman Chants - its a 2 cd set. The first CD is instructional, he explains some of the history and technique, and you sing along by repeating first a word, then a line, of each chant. I think there are 3-4 chants he teaches in this way -including the ashtanga invocation, which I've always liked. He explains things very clearly. The second cd is him chanting and playing the harmonium. He has a good voice, not a great voice, but there is something incredibly soothing about listening to him. -Jane

Cindy Dollar: Yoga Your Way : Customizing Your Home PracticeThis is a great book for home practice. It's spiral bound and the pages are split so that on the left the pages are practice sequences and on the right each page is one of 44 asanas. The 31 practice sequences range from 10 to 90 minutes. On the back of each asana page are several modifications with various props. The author is an Iyengar teacher and the instructions are very detailed. What I like most about it is that the variety of sequences will prevent me from doing the same practice all the time which is what usually happens when I do yoga on my own.
-Danielle

November 06, 2005

A group of my internet friends likes to take this time of year to dedicate a forty day sadhana (practice) to our mothers. Each day the sadhaka (seeker or aspirant) dedicates her practice to her mother or grandmother(s), or even to the concept of motherhood or mother earth. Each sadhaka has a personal approach to her sadhana. Some people want to keep the memory of their mother burning bright in their lives. Some want to share that light with their daughters. Some seek to delve into the relationship they have with their mother and perhaps find a higher level of understanding or acceptance. I’ve been blessed with a world-class mom who has been a teacher, friend, confidant and supporter throughout my life. She has been the strong core of my family and provided stability for my sisters and me. It seems appropriate to dedicate a month of core power to my mother.

As part of my process in developing these monthly challenges, I first sit down with Light On Yoga and search for a selection of asanas that fit the theme. This month was a bit different because I wasn’t just looking at a single category or type of pose. I spent much more time looking at what Mr. Iyengar said about the effects of each pose. I concluded not only that are there a lot of poses that develop and maintain abdominal and core strength, but also that there are a lot that require not only core strength, but the ability to know how and when to engage your core. This is a very complex subject.

So, in contemplating this complex and very important subject, I decided the best approach would be to attempt to divide and conquer. I have made a list of seven categories of asana that develop or require abdominal or core strength and a list of suggested poses for each category. I also include an eighth category for the series of abdominal poses developed by Ana Forrest, which combines yoga kriya, pranayama and athletic abdominal training. I think that she has developed a unique fusion of yogic practice and modern athletic training that is worth exploring.

Here are the categories of poses that I will recommend for developing your core power:

Standing poses

Forward bends

Prone and supine poses

Arm balances

Twists

Inversions

Kriyas and bandhas

Ana Forrest abdominal training

As you can see, this list leaves practically no yogic stone unturned. Just about the only categories left off this list are back bends and restorative poses. Of course, it is very important to engage your core in back bending. But I’ll leave that for another monthly challenge (May back bends, anyone?). Since this list is so varied, you may correctly conclude that you can incorporate some core strengthening asanas into your yoga practice every day. I’ve listed here asana suggestions for each category. Obviously there will be some crossover between categories. For example many of the categories include twisted or revolved poses. I find in my own practice that the twisting and revolved poses offer a good combination of strength and stretch for your core.

Standing poses, particularly standing balances and twists require that you recruit your core muscles to stabilize and support the actions in each pose. For beginners, I would suggest that you make the standing poses the core (no pun intended) of your daily practice. The strength and focus that you develop will be your closest friend as you journey down your yogic path.

Tadasana (mountain pose)

Vrksasana (tree pose)

Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle pose)

Utthita Parsvakonasana (extended side angle pose)

Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle pose)

Virabhadrasana I, II and III (warrior poses)

Parsvottasana (intense side stretch or pyramid pose)

Parighasana (gate pose)

Utkatasana

Forward bends recruit the core muscles in the front body to lift your abdomen up from your pelvis. They also stretch the muscles of the side and back body. Forward bends work well in combination with the other categories of poses.

Arm balances offer us the opportunity to engage our core muscles to provide stability to the balance. I certainly haven’t included all the arm balances. You can refer to the April Arm Balance Challenge if you love arm balances and want more challenge.

Lolasana (pendant pose)

Tolasana (scales pose)

Astavakrasana (eight bends pose)

Vasisthasana (side plank)

Bakasana (crow pose)

Parsva Bakasana (side crow pose)

Twists are great poses for alternately contracting and relaxing the abdominal and back muscles. There are twisting and revolved poses included in almost every category here. As I mentioned above, I find these poses particularly valuable in my own practice. I’ll delve more deeply into the subject in next month’s challenge, which will be exclusively devoted to twists. I find it interesting that many of the seated twists are named after Indian sages or mythological figures. Unfortunately this makes it difficult to translate the Sanskrit names into English. In case you need more information on any of these, I have included page number references from Light On Yoga.

Marichyasana I, II and III (pages 159-162 and pages 254-259)

Bharadvajasana II and II (pages 251-254)

Ardha Matsyendrasana I and II (pages 259-262 and pages 270-271)

Malasana (garland pose) this is not actually a twist, but I’m including here as a warm-up for the next pose.

Pasasana (noose pose)

Inversions, like standing balances, use core power for balance and stability. It is especially important in headstand and shoulder stand not to rush into the full pose and neglect the intermediate stages. The intermediate stages are very important in developing the necessary core strength for control in moving into and out of the inversions. If you want to explore inversions more deeply into you can check out the Upside Down June Challenge.

Salamba Sirasana I (head stand)

Urdhva Dandasana (upward facing staff pose). This could be considered an intermediate stage of sirsasana, but as you will see if you work in this pose, it is a great pose for developing core strength and balance.

The sirsasana cycle includes several revolved poses, which will further develop your core power once you have become comfortable in headstands.

Salamba Sarvangasana I (shoulder stand). Moving slowly into and out of shoulder stand works your core muscles throughout their range of motion.

The sarvangasana cycle also includes several revolved poses and variations which will help you to further develop your core power once you have become comfortable in shoulder stand.

Bandha and Kriya are not, strictly speaking, asanas, but restraints (locks) and practices (processes) which help to regulate the flow of prana in your body. Some of them do specifically use the abdominal muscles, which is why I’ve included them in this month’s challenge.

Nauli (churning or wave) On page 427 in Light On Yoga, Mr. Iyengar points out that “nauli is a kriya or process and not an asana. Care should be observed in its performance, otherwise the process leads to numerous diseases. It is not, therefore recommended for the average practitioner. First master Uddiyana Bandha before attempting nauli.” I’d suggest starting with instruction from a qualified teacher if you are interested in working on kriyas. I've also linked to an article below.

One of the unique contributions of Ana Forrest to the field of yoga is the abdominal training that she has developed. She combines traditional yogic practices of pranayama, bandha and kriya with athletic abdominal training. Here is a list of the exercises and poses she incorporates. For more information on these I’ll list her media practices below. If you want to take a workshop from her in person (I highly recommend it), you can take a look at her national workshop schedule.

Elbow to knee

Abs with a roll

Twisting abs with a roll

Agni Sara

Frog lifting through

Straddle lifting through

Nauli

Twisted root

There are several good media practices that focus specifically on abdominals/core:

October 08, 2005

In honor of Mr. Iyengar’s visit to the U.S. this month to promote his new book Light on Life, it seems appropriate to begin this month’s challenge with a quote from him:

You must hold the balance by the intelligence of the body – by instinct or the sense of equilibrium – and not by strength. When you keep the balance by strength, it is a physical action; when you keep it by the intelligence of the body, it is relaxation in action – B.K.S. Iyengar

Balancing poses develop lightness, strength and agility. Practicing balancing poses allows you to achieve tremendous control over the body. These poses develop muscle tone and increase coordination, concentration, and focus. By practicing outer balance you can cultivate your inner silence.

Balance is inherent in many of the groups of poses we’ve visited in earlier challenges, arm balances, inversions, and even the standing poses. It is also a very important part of our daily lives that becomes even more important as we age.

September 10, 2005

Like many people my thoughts this week have been with the people of the
Gulf Coast who have lost everything in the wake of hurricane Katrina. I
like to suggest that we all dedicate our practice this month to all the
people who have lost so much. Also we should give thanks to the
dedicated rescuers and everyone who went in to help, like our friend
Andrea who is working with the Red Cross efforts.

Forward bends allow us to slow down and go deeply inside ourselves. In
the last week, so many of our yoginis have mentioned that their yoga
practice is a place of peace and solace at a troubling time. I hope
that practicing forward bends this month will help us to connect with
our inner strength so that we can send that strength out into the
community and the world.

Forward bends are included as part of many media practices. There are a few that specifically focus on forward bends such as:

Manuso Manos', Yoga the Home Study Course Volume III. This one is not
widely available, but you can order it online from the Unity Woods website. It has excellent, comprehensive instruction for many of the poses
I’ve listed above.

Gaiam’s Yoga for Energy with Rodney Yee has a forward bend segment that
I like a lot. It has no form instruction, like the rest of the video,
but it’s nice when you just want a calming forward bend practice.

August 10, 2005

Do sweltering August days have you looking for a way to beat the heat?
Does thinking about getting ready for back to school (as a teacher or
parent or student) make you anxious? Do the fun and sun of family
vacations have you worn out? What you need is some restorative yoga to
help you cool down, relax and recharge your batteries.

If you ask modern day yogis what restorative yoga is you may get a lot
of different answers. Some think of lying around on lounges built from
bolsters, blocks, sandbags, and folded blankets. The modern queen of
restorative yoga, Judith Lasater, presents this type of restorative
yoga in her book Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times. She
teaches Relax and Renew workshops teaching people the value of these
restful types pf poses. But there are other facets to the gem we call
restorative yoga. I think most of you know that I tend to use Light on
Yoga as a primary source. But the only restorative pose mentioned in
Light on Yoga is the last pose, savasana. But the Iyengar tradition has
made a strong contribution to the world of restorative yoga. You can
adapt many of the traditional poses to make them more restorative by
using props. Other yoga teachers like Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers
teach Yin Yoga, which could be considered a form of restorative yoga.
So we have lots of possibilities for our practice this month.

You can incorporate restorative poses into your yoga practice a lot of
different ways. One option is to choose a few of your favorite
restoratives and add them to the end of your regular practice. You
could dedicate one day a week to a full restorative practice. You could
do a more active practice in the morning and do a restorative practice
in the evening before bed. You could even spend a whole week (or month)
dedicated to practicing restorative poses. Restorative practices are
frequently suggested as alternative practices during the menstrual
cycle, but they can be useful throughout the month for recharging.
Restorative poses are generally held longer, anywhere from 3 minutes to
30 minutes or longer, to allow time to relax into the pose.

I’ll start with a list of restorative poses from which to build your
practice. I’ll mention the major props used, but feel free to use your
imagination for prop ideas. The basic props you will probably use
include blankets, belts, bolsters (folded blankets can be substituted),
blocks and a chair. And don’t forget the wall. Optionally, you can also
use sand bags, an eye pillow or an ace bandage wrapped loosely around
your head to relax your eyes.

Iyengar style restoratives (many of these are pictured with prop
set-ups in Yoga: The Iyengar Way, Cool Yoga Tricks and A Woman’s Book
of Yoga and Health):
1)Supported uttanasana (standing forward bend), with buttocks resting on the wall or on a chair.
2)Supported uttanasana with your head resting on the seat of a chair or
stacked blocks (or even a block on the seat of a chair if necessary).
3)Adho mukha svanasana (downward facing dog) with your head resting on
a block or a bolster or folded blankets. You can also do supported down
dog over the back of a chair, padded with a blanket or if you are lucky
enough to have a yoga wall, supported with a rope harness at your hips.
4)Virasana (hero’s pose) forward bend over a bolster.
5)Supta Virasana (reclined hero’s pose) on a bolster or blankets.
6)Supta baddha konasana (reclined bound angle) on a bolster with legs belted.
7)Lying on crossed bolsters
8)Seated forward bends like janu sirasana, upavista konasana and
pascimottanasana with forehead resting on a chair, a block or a bolster.
9)Salamba sirsasana (supported head stand) at the wall with legs belted.
10)Salamba sarvangasana (supported shoulder stand), on a base of blankets with legs belted.
11)Salamba sarvangasana on a chair
12)Ardha halasana (half plough) on a chair
13)Supported Ustrasana (Camel pose) with a chair and bolster.
14)Dwi pada viparita dandasana (two-legged inverted staff pose) over a chair with head resting on a bolster, legs belted.
15)Savasana

Another one I like from the book is the Sequence for Enhanced Immunity:
1)Reclined bound angle
2)One leg seated forward bend (janu sirasana)
3)Down dog
4)Head stand
5)Shoulder stand
6)Plough
7)Seated twist
8)Leg up the wall (viparita karani)
9)Savasana

For the Judith Lasater style poses, here is a list of 10 poses and
suggestions for times in each pose and some different length sequences
that use them. All of these are pictured beautifully in the book Relax
and Renew, along with detailed instructions for setting up props and
folding blankets. I’ve listed the page number in Relax & Renew for
each pose:

Here are some hints for practicing these poses:
1)To facilitate the relaxation, dress warmly or place an extra blanket over yourself.
2)Do your practice in a warm, quiet environment free from draft and noise, in a place where you can hopefully be undisturbed.
3)Restorative poses are opening and releasing exercises, not stretches.
Make sure that your body feels very relaxed and supported in each
movement.
4)There should be no strain in your back or neck, adjust your props to support you in comfort.
5)Keep your eyes closed. Use an eye pillow or an ace bandage to
facilitate the relaxation response. Relax your face, eyes, tongue,
throat, shoulder, back and abdomen in each movement.
6)Let go of conscious control of the breath. Just relax and breathe your normal inhalation & exhalation.
7)The times listed are guidelines. If your body tells you to get out sooner, honor that. Be kind to your body, mind and heart.
8)After each back bending pose, rest the back flat on the floor for a
few minutes to release the back muscles and the roll to your side and
come slowly up to sitting.

Here are some different length sessions:

10-15 minutes, you can add these to the end of your regular practice, or just squeeze it in when you have time.
Sequence 1:Basic relaxation pose for 10-15 minutes
Sequence 2:Supported bound angle for 10-15 minutes
Sequence 3:Mountain brook pose for 5 minutes
Viparita karani for 7 minutes
Supported child’s pose for 3 minutes

July 05, 2005

Standing poses are invigorating. They refresh the body and mind. They remove tension, aches and pains. Through practicing standing poses the back, hips, knees, neck and shoulders all gain strength and mobility. Standing poses teach the principles of correct alignment and movement. They help build the strength and awareness needed for inversions and other more advanced poses.

Standing poses can be done almost anywhere. When working long hours on the computer support desk, I would frequently take trikonasana, uttanasana or garudasana breaks to stretch my body and refresh and refocus my mind. You can do them in the park or on the trail before during or after running or biking. You can do them on the golf tee while you wait for the foursome in front of you to finish. On a long driving trip, you can do standing poses at rest stops.

For a dedicated practice, it’s best to practice on a non-slip surface. The feet and legs are the foundation of stand poses. You should build your poses from the foundation up. For more information on feet, see Lianne’s article on feet.

Here is a listing of standing poses from Light on Yoga with the common name and/or approximate English translation.

You can work standing poses into your practice any time in combination with other poses, or as a warmup for more difficult poses. I actually love standing poses and rarely a day goes by when I don’t do at least a few of them. If you are a beginner, then standing poses should be the foundation of your practice. If you need to rest any time during the practice, you can stand in resting uttanasana (stand forward bend with legs hip width apart and elbows clasped) or resting uttanasana with your hips against a wall.

You can practice a standing pose sequence many different ways. You can hold each pose for 1-2 minutes, or go into and out of each pose several times before moving onto the next one. You can string all the poses together into a flow, spending 3-6 breaths in each pose. If you want a vigorous practice, you can work the standing poses into sun salutations. If you want a gentler standing practice you can use the support of the wall or props for your standing poses. Jumping into and out of the poses adds energy to your practice. If your back or knees hurt you should step into and out of the poses.

There are literally hundreds or videos that include standing poses. If you are looking for detailed instruction, I’d recommend: John Schumacher’s CDs Basic Daily Practice or Foundations Standing and InvertedFelicity Green’s Advanced Beginning Yoga Series audio tapesManuso Manos Yoga the Home Study Course, Vol I

I know that these can be fairly hard to find. I’d say the first place to check is at your local Iyengar studio (if possible). Unity Woods boutique has Schumacher’s CDs and Manos’ videos. The Iyengar Institute of San Francisco has Felicity Green’s tapes. They are audio tapes, not CDs.

June 03, 2005

Once again, courtesy of Loretta, guidance on the June inversion focus:

Inversions are a fairly small but important group of asana. Looking through Light On Yoga there are really only a few poses and their variations. But just to underscore their importance in your yoga practice, it is interesting to note that while Mr. Iyengar devotes between one half to one page to most of the other asana, he devotes a full 27 pages to sirsasana and the sirsasana cycle and 32 pages to sarvangasana and the sarvangasana cycle.

As important as inversions are, they also come with lots of precautions. Here is the list of advantages and precautions from Yoga: The Iyengar Way:

The inverted poses revitalize the whole system. They take the weight off the legs, relieving strain. By inverting the inner organs, they activate parts that are sluggish. They improve circulation and tone the glandular system. They help concentration as blood is brought to the brain, and are a marvelous aid to sleep. Sirsasana in particular activates the pituitary gland. Sarvangasana strengthens the nervous system and the emotions; it activates the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

There should be no strain in the head, eyes, ears, neck, or throat. As the head is delicate, Sirsasana should always be done on a blanket. The blanket should be firm, not spongy. It is not advisable to repeat sirsasana as this irritates the brain and nerves. The variations may be learned once the balance is steady.

In sarvangasana, the neck should always be soft and relaxed. If the posture is done flat on the floor, there is a tendency for the neck to collapse and to feel pressure. To avoid this, the shoulders and elbows should be supported on folded blankets, the height of which should be varied according to the length and suppleness of the neck. The above arrangement may not be suitable for those with neck injuries or conditions such as cervical spondylosis. Other methods need to e tried, after consultation with a qualified teacher. Sarvangasana variations are easier if the blankets are not too high.

Although sarvangasana is learned before sirsasana, once the latter is learned it is practiced first: sirsasana after sarvangasana could injure the neck. Sirsasana, if practiced by itself, can produce a feeling of irritability, which is soothed by sarvangasana, so should always be followed by it.

Cautions: Do not do inverted postures during menstruation.Do not do inverted postures if suffering from high blood pressure, heart problems, detached retina, or ear problems.If suffering from neck injuries, seek advice.During pregnancy, sirsasana, sarvangasana, and ardha halasana may be done with support, provided there is no discomfort or medical contraindication.Remove contact lenses

OK did that scare you? While it was not my intention to do so, I do hope that no one will start an inversion practice without consulting a qualified teacher or at the very, very least consulting a good book. It’s almost impossible to teach everything that needs to be taught in a video, so I would suggest doing video inversion practices only if you have first done them with a live teacher.

The list of poses is a short list this month, but of course, it can be a lifetime practice to learn this short list. I’ve placed them in the order that I would normally practice them.

Here are some suggestions from the book Cool Yoga Tricks for working up to these inverted poses:

Prep for adho mukha vrksasana:Right angle handstand, AKA half handstand, AKA crazy dog. Place your hands a leg length away from the wall and walk your feet up the wall behind you until your body forms a 90-degree angle. Hold to your tolerance. You may need a buddy to tell you when your legs are at 90 degrees, until you get used to how it feels. If you do have a buddy, he or she can provide support by putting their hands on your shoulder blades. That helps you to avoid the feeling that you might tip over backwards (don’t worry, you won’t!) Once you feel comfortable you can experiment with raising one leg at a time.

Preps for pinca mayurasana: a) Everyone’s favorite, dolphin pose. This is a great one for both stretching and strengthening your shoulders for the inversions and for things like urdhva dhanurasana (upward bow, wheel)b) if you are ready for the next step, you can try crazy dolphin, which is the same as crazy dog, above, but your arms are in dolphin position.

Preps for sirsasana:a) Traditionally pinca mayurasana is considered a prep for sirsasana, but many people find it more difficult because of tight shouldersb) If you are not ready to use pinca mayurasana as a prep, you can start with dolphin with your hands clasped. Most people find this easier than dolphin with hands apartc) the intermediate phase is the same as crazy dolphin, but with the head on the floor.d)In Light On Yoga, Mr. Iyengar also suggests prasarita padottanasana (wide angle forward bend) with the head on the floor as a substitute for sirsasana, for people who can’t support their weight on their head and neck.

Preps for sarvangasana: a) you can start with your feet on a chair and your shoulders on two or three folded blankets. Use the feet on the chair to press your hips up and get your weight up onto your shoulders. You probably will not be able to hold this for very long. But it’s good for practicing the set up for shoulder standb) the next step is to set up near the wall and walk your feet up on the wall to get up onto your shouldersc) supported shoulder stand can also be done on a chair. There are excellent instructions for this and a really good picture on pages 118-119 of [I]Yoga: the Iyengar Way[/I]. You can also do halasana with your legs supported on a chair.

*Prop note: for those of us with bigger breasts who feel a bit smothered in shoulder stand or people with tight upper backs and necks or longer necks, you may try using a higher stack of blankets. Some people find it nice to reverse stack the blanket so you kind of have a little set of stair steps going up. It’s best to experiment with your set up to find the one that works the best for you. I find that I prefer 4 blankets, except for some of the variations.

Variations:For those of you who have experience and are comfortable in shoulder stand and want more juice, here are some variations you can try, also known as the sarvangasana cycle. One reason for doing variations is to increase your time in the pose. You can start in the full pose for a minute or more, then when you are ready, move into any or all of the variations. Again, there are excellent pictures and instructions for these in [I]Yoga: The Iyengar Way[/I], pages 111-1151) eka pada sarvangasana (one legged should stand)2) parsvaikapada sarvangasana (sideways one-legged shoulder stand)3) karnapidasana (ear pressure pose)4) parsva halasana (sideways plough pose)5) supta konasana (supine angle)6) parsva sarvangasana (sideways shoulder stand)7) baddha konasana in sarvangasana (bound angle in shoulder stand) (not pictured in the sarvangasana cycle, but it is similar to the pose in the sirsasana cycle page 104)8)upavista konasana in sarvangasana (wide angle in should stand)(not pictured in the sarvangasana cycle, but it is similar to the pose in the sirsasana cycle page 104)9)Urdhva Padmasana in sarvangasana (lotus legs in shoulder stand)10)Pindasana in sarvangasana (lotus legs with arms wrapped around them in shoulder stand)11)Parsva urdhva padmasana in sarvangasana (sideways lotus in shoulder stand)12)Parsva pindasana in sarvangasana (sideways pindasana in shoulder stand)13)Setu bandha from sarvangasana (dropping legs down into setu bandha from sarvangasana, you can start out by dropping them down to a chair)

For those of you who have experience and are comfortable balancing in headstand, here are some variations you can try, also known as the sirsasana cycle. Although it won’t work for all the variations, it is not a bad idea to go back to the wall the first few times you try the variations, even if you are comfortable balancing away from the wall. These are pictured and described on pages 102-107 in Yoga: The Iyengar Way:1)parsva sirsasana (sideways headstand)2)parivrtta eka pada sirsasana (revolved one leg headstand)3)eka pada sirsasana (one leg headstand)4)parsvaika pada sirsasana (sideways one leg headstand)5)baddha konasana in sirsasana (bound angle in headstand)6)upavista konasana in sirsasana (wide angle in headstand)7)parsva virasana in sirsasana (sideways hero in headstand)8)urdhva dandasana (upward staff pose)

Vrshikasana (scorpion pose) is also a variation of pinca mayurasana and sirsana and it throws in back bending as well.

Media practices:There really are not a lot of videos or other media that include inversions, probably for good reason. Again I would suggest that you not start an inversion practice, except under the supervision of a qualified teacher. If you have already had live instruction and want some media to help your home practice, here are some suggestions:

Teacher Ingela Abbott credits Felicity Green with passing on this technique for kicking up into arm balance. • Bring the body into downward dog with the fingertips two inches from a wall. Decide which leg is the “pusher” leg and which is the “swinger.” • Look to the thumbs for courage, and to bring strength into the torso. • On an inhalation, lift the swinger leg, and lengthen through the spine. • On the exhalation, fling up, with no thought of coming into the pose. (In fact, Ingela forbade anyone to come into the pose.) • Repeat three times, then rest. • Next, work with the action of the pusher leg. Hold the swinger up in the air, lengthen through the spine on the inhalation. • With no help from the swinger leg, push off the ground on the exhalation. • Repeat three times, then rest. • Come into downward dog, fling with the swinger and push with the pusher. In time, and with regular practice, you’ll find yourself in arm balance. • When should you work at kicking up with the second leg? Ingela recommends getting comfortable with the easier leg first, then working on the “slow” side. - from the June 2002 Iyengar Yoga Vancouver Newsletter

April 29, 2005

Once more, Loretta provides us with a focus for our May practice: Chest Openers and Back Bends to Open Our Hearts to Summer

Of course, any hip and/or shoulder openers would be good to warm-up for
back bending. It’s nice to start with sun salutations to get some
warmth built up. Passive chest openers, like lying over a bolster are
also good to start with if you are tired. There's a really great
chapter on preparing for back bends in Cool Yoga Tricks.
Back bends are very energizing, but also require a lot of energy. So a
passive chest opening practice might be best if you are really tired.
My teacher Ingela Abbott suggests cross training by alternating back
bending sequences with forward bending sequences every other day. It
would definitely be hard to do a back bending practice every day of the
month.

Here’s a back focused practice from 30 Essential Yoga Poses
Purpose: back bends to open the lungs and free the heart
Quote: “Healthy backs bend in all directions.”
Mantra for daily practice: It’s not the letting go that hurts; it’s the holding on

April 01, 2005

Our challenge this month is arm balances to emulate the flowers popping up for spring. I know that some of you still have snow, so you can show the flowers how it's done. (pictured is Sharon in sidecrow)

We had originally suggested tittibasana as a pinnacle pose. But going through Light On Yoga I was realizing that pinnacle poses abound in this area. So if there's a particular arm balancing pose that's your dragon you can choose to work on slaying it as you wish.

Since Elena told us that Ana Forrest said gravity surfing is 1000% abs and 10% balance, any ab work will help with this challenge. The good new is that it will also help with inversions and life in general. I'm coming to a point in my life where I realize that ab strength might be the beginning for everything. The end is your choice. Strong abs will get you on the road.

Not strictly poses, but kriyas (practices) that will strengthen your abdominals, these are included in several of Ana Forrest's Intensive CDs9)Uddiyana bandha (belly flies up, belly lock)10)Nauli (abdominal churning)

I picked some other poses which could be considered preps for the more drawn in arm balances.11)Malasana (garland pose, yogic squat)12)Pasasana (noose pose, sort of a twisted yogic squat)OR any of the twists13)Padmasana (lotus pose) could come in handy in some of the arms balances that include it.14)Chaturanga dandasana (builds arm strength)

On to the arm balances, approximately from easiest to hardest:15)Lolasana (dangling earring pose)16)Tolasana (scales pose)17)Kukkutasana (rooster pose)18)Purvottanasana (inclined plane, or reverse plank)19)Astavakrasana (8-bends pose)20)Eka pada bhujasna (I think this is the one called elephant trunk, one leg up on outside of shoulder, one extended forward)21)Dwi hasta bhjasana (same as above but with both legs extended forward)22)Bhujapidasana (shoulder pressure pose, similar to above, but with both legs on outside of shoulders)23)Mayurasana (peacock pose)24)Pinca mayurasana (elbow balance, forearm stand, whatever name you prefer, yes the inversion)25)Adho Mukha Vrksasana (downward facing tree, AKA full arm balance, AKA hand stand)26)Vasisthasana (side plank)27)Bakasana (crow or crane pose)28)Parsva Bakasana (side crow or crane)29)Urdhva kukkutasana (upward rooster, same as rooster, but legs are behind arms in lotus instead of arms thread through legs)30)parsva kukkutasana (imagine above twisted)31)Tittibhasana (firefly pose)32)Galavasana (I don't know the common name for this but it's on p.325 of Light on Yoga)33)Eka pada galavasana p.327 LOY34)Eka pada koundinyasana I (scissors, as named by Ana Forrest)35)Eka pada koundinyasana II (twisted scissors, as named by Ana Forrest)36)Eka pada bakasana I (one leg in crow, one extended back)37)Eka pada bakasana II (one leg in crow, one extended forward)38)Vrschikasana I (scorpion pose)39)Vrschikasana II (scorpion pose with arms extended as in hand stand)

OK sure, most of those are crazy, but I left out even more crazy ones included in Light On Yoga. I included some of the crazier ones because they are included in Ana Forrest Intensives. Arm balances are a major challenge for me, so I'll be working on the easier ones. I'll be thrilled if I can get crow for any amount of time. I can do full arm balance (hand stand), but the more balled up ones are so much more difficult for me. The point is not to do or die, the point is to try! Working towards arms balances and strengthening those abs! (pictured is Megan in tittibhasana)